Waiter, There's a Clue in My Soup! Five Short Mysteries

By Camille LaGuire

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Waiter, There's a Clue in My Soup! Five Short Mysteries Five light mystery short stories: from puzzles like "Waiter, There's a Clue in My Soup!", "The Hoosegow Strangler," and "Trail of the Lonesome Stickpin," to suspense in "Alibi" and "The Promise." These stories were previously published in magazines like Handheld Crime and Futures Mysterious Anthology. Several of these stories were nominated for a Derringer Award or put forward for an Edgar.

Reviews

waiter there's a clue in my soup

5

By iznot

Great short and fun stories. Tame enough to read to children, yet not fluffy or amateurish stories. I recommend for young and old.

More by Camille LaGuire

Camille LaGuire Five light mystery short stories: from puzzles like "Waiter, There's a Clue in My Soup!", "The Hoosegow Strangler," and "Trail of the Lonesome Stickpin," to suspense in "Alibi" and "The Promise." These stories were previously published in magazines like Handheld Crime and Futures Mysterious Anthology. Several of these stories were nominated for a Derringer Award or put forward for an Edgar.

Camille LaGuire On a lonely country road, in the cold of winter, two runaway teens are out of gas and stranded. They seek shelter in a distant farmhouse, only to find it's the lair of a gang of vicious kidnappers. Can they dodge the crooks and the weather long enough to save the kidnapped child...and themselves? HARSH CLIMATE is a fast paced novella of crime and suspense.

Camille LaGuire These five flash stories from the Daring Novelist blog each have a twist. Some are hard-boiled, others light and fluffy. The stories include:

"Burning Bridges" A hard-boiled woman must guide a young bimbo in trouble."Balancing Act" A klutzy woman, a charming man and a the theft of a jewel. The question is whether the fellow was just a bit too charming...."Deadmen Don't Eat Fruitcake" It's a Noir Christmas when tough guys get their stolen jewels mixed up with fruitcake and on tough old lady."Power Is Greater Than Love" A dictator knows only power, a simple woman knows only love. Which is stronger?"The Unexpurgated Story of the Baby Shoes Which Were Sold Unused" The story behind Hemingway's famous six word story: "For sale, baby shoes. Never used" may be more complicated than he expected, as an upright Victorian spinster explains to a newspaperman.

This collection is approximately 8500 words long.

Camille LaGuire Was it a curse, a vengeful ghost, or murder? Or was it all three?

When their friend Oren died from a fall from his horse, range detectives Mick and Casey are sorry to hear it, but not surprised. Oren was prone to carelessness.

But Oren was only the most recent of many similar deaths on that same spot on the same trail, and it seems clear the first to die there was murdered. Were all those other deaths just accidents or is there something more to what the locals call the Curse of Scattershale Gulch?

About the series: Mick and Casey McKee aren't exactly your average gunslingers. He's young and inexperienced, and has much too sunny a disposition for a gunman. She's younger, meaner, less experienced, but a much better shot. They got married the day they met, and now they're courting as they solve the mysteries of life around them.

This novelette is 8300 words long (approx 30 printed pages).

Camille LaGuire Four contemporary fantasy stories. In "The Bellhound" a woman needs protection, but doesn't want a dog; in "Away He Run" a boy struggles with being his family secret; in "The Trespasser" a girl and her pony come face to face with death; in "Like The Wind" there's not much stronger than the will of a teenager.

Camille LaGuire Two gunslingers, one little girl, a big bag of toys...and murder.

Mick and Casey McKee aren't exactly your average gunslingers. He's young and inexperienced, and has much too sunny a disposition for a gunman. She's younger, meaner, less experienced, but a much better shot.

When they get a job protecting the daughter of a stagecoach king--and her grand collection of toys--it seems like an opportunity to go someplace new. But after the wrong kidnapping, a murder, another wrong kidnapping, a couple of jewel heists and a few knocks to the head, Mick and Casey are left holding the bag of toys. Mick, however, is not as dumb as he seems, and as for Casey...nobody steals her gun and gets away with it.

HAVE GUN, WILL PLAY, a western whodunnit, for fans of both mystery and light adventure.

Camille LaGuire Long after Mary and Jackie Alwyn have settled down to domestic life, Mary finds that the irrepressible Jackie can actually keep a secret. But is he straying from his vows, or is he up to something else?

Midwinter Freedom is a short story in The Adventures of Mary Alwyn, which take place in an alternate world a little like Revolutionary America. The novels are melodramas. This short story just little romantic holiday story. It is 4800 words or about 16 paperpack pages.

Camille LaGuire In a small Michigan beach town, an eccentric movie buff and a compulsive secret agent join forces to solve a case of kidnapping and murder.

* * *

George Starling quit his job as a secret agent to take care of a traumatized woman he rescued. He has brought her home to her small Michigan town, where she can't seem to get better, and he can't seem to shake loose of his need to take care of her.

When an old friend asks him to investigate a local lead in an international kidnapping, George reluctantly agrees to interview a witness.

That witness is Karla Marquette, a flaky local movie buff who seems to have little touch with reality. But George knows the instant he meets her that Karla has a genius for happiness. If he can only help Karla clear her friends of suspicion in this kidnapping and murder, perhaps she can help he and his girlfriend find the happiness that eludes them.

But the case is deeper than it seems, and soon George finds himself, and even his girlfriend, entangled in a deceptive plot. Can he shake loose, or will it be up to Karla to rescue them all?

The Man Who Did Too Much is a 95,000 word novel which combines classic mystery elements with comic suspense.

Camille LaGuire Seven fables and children's stories, from haunting to the silly .

Stories include:

"The Enchanted Tree" - A magic tree has touched the lives of a whole town, including one lonely girl who needs some help at Christmas.

"The Hero and The Weaver" - When a young man pesters a magic weaver for a magic cloak, she sets him to impossible tasks to get rid of him... but he just won't give up. What could possibly turn a boy into such a hero?

"The Greatest Treasure" - A poor and tiny kingdom helps a wealthier prince to find the greatest treasure to give to a picky princess.

"When Good Stories Go Bad" - Stories are meant to be shared freely, otherwise they might go bad on you. (Inspired by a Korean folktale.)

"The Princess Who Would Not Smile" - Smiles must come from within.

"The Hot Bun Man" - And old street vendor and a rich man discover that generosity comes in many flavors.

Camille LaGuire As a killer hurricane approaches their town, Lysette and her mother have no trailer to transport their horse, King. They decide to ride him to shelter. Two days, down roads increasingly filled with scared, impatient people. One accident could be the end of King. Can they make it? Middle readers, (13,000 words or approx. 45 pages.)

Camille LaGuire Young gunslinger detectives, Mick and Casey McKee, are eager to hear some opera singing. But when somebody takes a shot at some visiting divas, the concert is off. The ladies won't sing until Mick and Casey solve a case of blackmail and murder.

Camille LaGuire Anna is a runaway girl disguised as a boy. After she nearly thwarts a kidnapping, she is offered a job in the royal stables. Surrounded by the intrigues of the court, she has the time of her life. But this is Anna's only chance at adventure. She finds the hero admirable but boring, and the villain is both dead wrong and a lot of fun. Who should she follow?

Camille LaGuire The Case of the Misplaced Hero was originally written as a twice-a-week serial for the Daring Novelist blog. Here is the whole story collected into one novella-length volume -- 42 episodes, plus the teaser episode that leads into the next story.

When Alex was a child his eccentric aunt gave him a ring and told him that one day he should go jump in a lake. He never knew what to make of that, and never tried doing it, until one day at college, he tries to rescue his drunken professor from falling in a river. They both plunge in... and come up in a very different river, in a land that reminds Alex very much of the stories his aunt used to tell: a world like old adventure books and silent movie serials. It's a dream come true, except that his drunken old professor gets himself lost and arrested. Alex must find and rescue him, and return him home, before the old fool gets shot as a spy.